Free Speech on America's K12 and College Campuses: Legal Cases from Barnette to Blaine

(Hardback)

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Free Speech on Americas K12 and College Campuses: Legal Cases from Barnette to Blaine covers the history of legal cases involving free speech issues on K12 and college campuses, mostly during the fifty-year period from 1965 through 2015. While this book deals mostly with high school and college newspapers, it also covers religious issues (school prayer, distribution of religious materials, and use of school facilities for voluntary Bible study), speech codes, free speech zones, self-censorship due to political correctness, hate speech, threats of disruption and violence, and off-campus speech, including social media. Randall W. Bobbitt provides a representative sampling of cases spread across the five decades and across the subject areas listed above. Recommended for scholars of communication, education, political science, and legal studies.

Reviews

From 1943 to the present, the First Amendment rights of students from kindergarten to university have often been diminished by adminstrators' decisions. Dr. Bobbitt proves himself to be a highly knowledgeable and trustworthy guide through that contentious terrain. -- Bruce Swain, University of West Florida
Randy Bobbitt provides a well-researched and comprehensive overview of legal cases affecting freedom of speech in K-12 and secondary schools. This book not only addresses the important points of law but also provides interesting anecdotes and personal details that make the cases come to life. -- Jim Foust, Bowling Green State University
Free Speech on America's K12 and College Campuses: Legal Cases from Barnette to Blaine is a thoughtful treatment of the state of free speech in America's education system. The book contains the requisite careful analyses of seminal First Amendment challenges to independent student journalism on high school and college campuses. However, its true selling point is the insightful discussion of free speech controversies over religious issues, dress codes, political correctness, and the like in kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools. That the book is well-researched is an understatement. The writing is both accessible and engaging. I highly recommend Free Speech on America's K12 and College Campuses as a must-read for journalism students of all ages and media law scholars. -- Anita McDaniel, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Author Bio

Randy Bobbitt is visiting lecturer at the University of West Florida.